Assignment 3: Programme: A Stage for Spatial, Functional, and Conceptual

RelationshipsArchitectural Program Narrative

EVDA 580: Studio I Design Thinking

Name: Sumer MatharuStudent ID: 10047835Date: 28 October 2015

Architectural Program Narrative

BackgroundThe program is for a single family dwelling project located on the Shaganappi trail sitethat offers beautiful panoramic views of the Calgary cityscape north of the Bow River.The home is being built for Connor Reece and his girlfriend Ciara Blake who moved toCalgary from Halifax. The home will be equipped to accommodate flora which adominant force on site, and a coyote family at a distance, and provide them with ahabitable space to co-exist with the human residents of the home.

SiteThe site is located at the intersection of Crowchild Trail SW and Bow Trail SW. It isflanked by the Bow River in the north, Shaganappi Golf course in the east, Crowchildtrail in the west and Bow Trail in the south. The overall site has a gradient of 10.7%.There is plenty of sunlight with no obstructions. Flora is one of the dominant forces onsite with rough fescue grass making up most of the landmass. Among the trees, balsampoplar is abundant and there are some pine trees in the residences at the perimeter ofthe site. There is an existing pedestrian and bike pathway cutting through the site. Thereis plenty of fauna as well on site like racoons, deer faun, coyotes, magpies, bees, etc.

The existing roadway ending at the site boundary will be continued and developed overthe dirt path to create a private entrance and roadway to the house. Currently, there areno changes planned for the existing pedestrian path.

RequirementsThe different modes of transport used by Connor and Ciara are on foot, bicycles and ahatchback car. Bicycles are preferred although during off season they like to use theircar.

The main requirements by the clients are a master bedroom with ensuite, single cargarage for car and bike storage and which also doubles as a workshop, kitchen & diningarea, living area which doubles as a yoga studio, workspace studio, garden/yard,wheelchair access throughout the house, and a guest bedroom for Reeces mother whois on a wheelchair. The guest bedroom will also need an ensuite with wheelchairaccess.

RoutineThe routine study is provided in the presentation board. Three (3) scenarios wereconsidered: school season, summer season, and mother visiting during summerseason. Under each of these scenarios both a weekday and a weekend was studied.During winter holidays, Reece and Ciara visit their hometown of Halifax. During thesummer season, they visit home for a month. It was observed that the maximumcirculation and activity happened between the kitchen & dining area, living area, andoutdoor access (foyer).

Program decisionBased on the routine and circulation study that was done, and as per the requirementsby the clients, the following floor areas were decided:

Master bedroom

500 sq. ft. (46.45 m2)

Guest bedroom

358 sq. ft. (33.26 m2)

Kitchen & Dining

500 sq. ft. (46.45 m2)

Living area / yoga studio

650 sq. ft. (60.39 m2)

Studio

250 sq. ft. (23.23 m2)

Garage

250 sq. ft. (23.23 m2)

Foyer

120 sq. ft. (11.15 m2)

Rooftop garden

entire roof space

The building will have 3 floors with the top floor being the rooftop garden and viewingarea for coyote activity. The vehicles and bicycles will drive at access level into thegarage which opens up to the foyer and the studio. The foyer also opens up to thepathway with a separate front door. Both bedrooms will be located on this 2 nd floor withconnectivity to the ground floor where the kitchen & dining area, living room area andthe powder room is located.The entire pathway and area surrounding the home will incorporate the flora on site.This will also act as a natural barrier between the inhabitants of the house and thecoyote family on site. Caves with 1 to 2 ft. wide openings will be provided on the site inthe wooded area east of the house. It is expected that the coyote family, once theymove in, will keep other coyotes away.

Materials and Construction

The exterior walls will be cast-in-place concrete walls with wood accents. Some of thewall features will include board formed concrete. There will be plenty of large windows.All doors will be wooden.The building will be designed to be energy efficient and will utilize as much reclaimedmaterial as possible without hindering construction timeline and cost. The interiors willbe a reflection of the walls from outside. The ceilings will be exposed for openness.There will be just the right amount of furniture in the house with plenty of floor pillowsand lots of storage space. The preferred materials for furniture will be warm woods suchas maple and walnut. Most of the fabrics used inside the building will be natural such ashemp, linens and wool. There will be paintings of the Nova Scotia landscape and EastCoast Ocean views to remind Connor and Ciara of home.

An ideal ThursdayCiara wakes up at 7:00 am and immediately jumps into the bathroom, brushes herteeth, showers, and wakes up Connor by 7:20 am. Following this, she puts on her yogagear and goes into the kitchen to start preparing a healthy breakfast. Connor first jumpsinto the shower, and then takes their pet dog out for a quick walk, returns and finishesup with Ciara in the kitchen after which they both sit down to eat. They both get donewith eating, talking, and listening to the morning news by 8:30 am after which Connorleaves for University to attend his classes. He gets to the University by 8:50 am give ortake a few minutes just in time for his class.Right after Connor leaves, Ciara starts preparing for her first yoga class of the day in themain living area. This living area has mostly floor pillows which Ciara can move awayand be ready for her students. After 2 classes, she goes back to the kitchen to preparelunch for herself. She then takes the dog out for a walk, does some gardening, and thenstarts preparing for dinner.Reece usually returns around 6:30pm 7:00pm after which they both sit down togetherfor dinner. Then they move into the living room to unwind and relax which could includejust talking, watching a movie or a tv show on Netflix, or even a small nap. Once theyare done they like to go watch the local coyotes on site, walk their dog around the sametime. When they return Reece gets back to his homework while Ciara does some lightreading. They usually go to bed around 11:30pm 12:00am.